How terrific! Just yesterday my sister just brought me 4 round glass circles that she salvaged from the trash. She said she brought them to me so I could make a glass stump table. Now you have also inspired me. Must be fate. Now I just need to find the right stump! :)

-- Homer : "Oh, and how is education supposed to make me feel smarter? Besides, every time I learn something new, it pushes some old stuff out of my brain."

Julie, levelling was quite difficult with the limited equipment i have, after decided the best possible line to balance it properly i drew a line on the bottom side and had to cut it with a hand saw and work it level with a planer and sander, this wood is very hard and strong, heavy (1100kg/m3 airdry) and fine-grained. once the bottom was steady i followed similar procedure for the top using a builders level. Due to a lack of knowledge i fitted the glass with 3 screws similar as those to fit a large mirror to a wall.

Rivergirl, i took the stump to the local glasscutter after ordering the size i needed, balanced the glass on the top marked the holes and had them drill the holes with their equipment.

Julie….rivergirl…..I have done a few of these, but am no expert. Here is how I have done the leveling. For better or worse…..it worked out fine.

Decide what part of the stump you want to keep as the final piece…....also how tall.

Chain saw off whatever you need to remove to get the approx length…....plus a couple of inches top and bottom. Before cutting scribe with permanent marker where you want the bottom “level” to be and try to cut as close to that as possible.

Finish the leveling of the bottom with whatever you got…....I usually skim a little with the chain saw, then switch to belt sander with 36 grit…....using FREQUENTLY a 3-5 ft level as both a level and a flatness gauge

Once the bottom is level and flat, then do the top pretty much the same.

I usually find punk wood, rot, etc at both ends. I try to have the best wood on the top…...obviously, and I usually pare out the bad wood on the bottom and use sawdust/epoxy to fill in any holes that I think will be functionally problematic. The bottom defects won’t show, so this step is purely functional.

I have found that the heavier the glass I use for the top, the better I like it. Heavy glass is much less prone to siding if someone brushes up against it and I think a “heavy” look is what I am shooting for. I am sure that more delicate pieces would look better with thinner glass….....I just haven’t used thin glass all that much.

I did build one stump table where I screwed the glass to the stump. The glass guy cut the holes for me…...even countersunk the holes so that the top of he table was totally flat. I liked it. But this required…....I think it was…..3/4 inch glass.

I have read about using a router to level the top. You build a box parallel to the level floor and ride the router around. I might try that. I don’t have an even top nor bottom. I grabbed a nice looking stump with three short ‘arms’ from a pile that was headed to the woodstove that I thought would make a good side table base. I don’t think I could saw it by hand without eating a lot of spinach first.

I was wondering about the glass top fixed to the arms because of wood movement… am I worrying for nothing?

With old, dry stump wood….....and as heavy as it is….....I never worried too much about wood movement. I just don’t think you are going to see expansion problems ….........like in glue-ups, rail and still pieces, etc.

I was much more concerned about glass movement on the top of the stump.

BTW, I also epoxied the heck out of the bottom so that no coloring came off the wood onto the carpet or floor.

Julie, you’ve got a plastic coming with the screw, the thickness of the glass, this protects the glass and will allow for a little movement in the wood. If it is possible to keep the stump steady with the bottomside up, the router might work

Hey Willie! First I read Wild Olive, and I think, hmmm, only one place where that grows. Then I look closely at the pic again and I see the wall plug in the back, and I think, hmmm, only one place where you get those….

Welkom by LJ’s, boet!

Mooi tafel (Nice table)!

-- Div @ the bottom end of Africa. "A woodworker's sharpest tool should be his mind."